What strikes me most is that all the main characters are bad. They do terrible, sometimes horrendous things. But event the worst of them is also at times and in some ways good. Exploring this dichotomy is what makes the movie so great. And the ending, which I won't give away, is not some trite it all works out in the end if we just love each other feel good message.
Given all the unethical and criminal actions committed against me and my children it is easy to view the perpetrators not as people who did bad things but as as bad people. And not just bad but wholly evil. I know that is not the case. Spring, Nelly Wince, Judge Mearly, and others who committed such horrible acts against me and almost without question agaisnt many others as well, are not 100% evil. No doubt they have family and friends that they like and who like them. No doubt they have done good things as well.
It is good remember sometimes that people are complicated. Good and evil are a range, with no one sitting entirely at one end all the time. Even Jeffery Dahmer had friends who liked him.
There has been a lot of speculation as to what caused Williams to hang himself. His wife said it was Lewy body dementia. Others have pointed out that the crippling alimony payments he was making combined with his increasing inability to work due to his illness was the real reason he took his own life.
Alimony, more often than not, is awarded not for need but as a result of successful criminal fraud. Often, as with my case, blatant criminal fraud. People become trapped by it. They work and work and then one day, due to the economy or illness, like in Robin Williams case, or even just old age, they cannot make as much money as before. So they kill themselves so that their loved ones at least get something before they die. You could not design a better program to promote suicide.
The unfortunate thing is that there is a cascading effect with suicides. The more famous you are the larger the effect tends to be but in aggregate the effect is greater with suicides of the non-famous because there are so many more.
Robin Williams suicide, which likely would never have happened if the court and not awarded alimony to his ex-wives, led to an additional 1,841 deaths. But suicides due to the burden of alimony happen every day. And those suicides likewise lead to other suicides. Every day. This will go on a long as family courts rule unjustly and with impunity.
Part 1 in this series is "Go in with Your Eyes Open."
Part 2 in this series is "Fire Your Attorney."
Part 3 in this series is "Establish a Support Network."Always abide by the Rules
Part 4 in this series is "Know How Judges Commit Crimes."
Part 5 in this series is "Document Everything -- Take Notes -- Put it in Writing."
Part 6 in this series is "Always abide by the Rules."
Part 7 in this series is "Prepare Everything Very Carefully."
Part 8 in this series is "Get Your Facts and Evidence Together."
Part 9 in this series is "Get Help from Others."
Part 10 in this series is "Take Advantage of Every Opportunity to Generate Proof of Corruption."
Part 11 in this series is "File Motions for Conferences and Hearings"
Part 12 in this series is "Always have Witnesses at Hearings"
Part 13 in this series is "Check the Orders in Your Case"
Part 14 in this series is "Put your Proof on a Website"
Part 15 in this series is "Appeal Early and Often"
Part 16 in this series is "File Criminal Charges with the District Attorney and U.S. Attorney"
Part 17 in this series is "File Motions for Recusal"
Great advice. There really isn't anything I disagree with but unfortunately my life is so busy I have not done all the steps. For example, rather than filing criminal charges I have simply mailed complaints to the FBI.
The former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar will spend the rest of his life in jail. A whopping 156 of his victims told excruciating stories about how he penetrated their vaginas with his fingers and felt them out with his bare hands. Many were under 16 at the time the abuse took place. Some were under 13.
Nassar was able to get away with his crimes for decades.
Nassar's story should serve as warning to the perpetrators of crime within the family court system. I do not know if people like Nelly Wince believe what they do isn't really that bad or simply believe they will never get caught. But the reality is that their actions harm many innocents including children and cause numerous deaths and the day will come where criminal and unethical actions within the family court system are no more tolerated that the abuse of children is by Olympic doctors.
In an incredible article Elle Magazine asks, Is Alimony the Last Feminist Taboo? It is the story of good people going through a difficult divorce and their struggle and ultimate success in make the best of the situation. It makes me so sad that Spring's divorce of me ended up so horrible for all parties, especially the kids.
The most difficult obstacle the couple in the article had to deal with was alimony. As the wife made far more money than the husband, he could have asked for alimony from her. But in the end he came to his senses and decided not to pursue it.
“He has a lot of pride, and he’s not a jerk,” Andrea said. “To his credit, he saw how off the rails it was getting.”
It is painful that Spring, rather than acting decently took the exact opposite approach. She not only demanded alimony but she committed perjury and fraud in order to get as much as she possibly could. Worse our legal system, despite overwhelming evidence that she did not deserved any alimony (the custody evaluator having ruled she was not the primary parent and the vocational evaluator ruling she could make just as much money as me), ignored the unquestionable evidence or her crimes.
The sad reality is that unless both people in a divorce act with integrity, the family law system operates in a way that rewards the bad and hurts the good.
The biggest problem with alimony is that the way it is awarded is often not just unfair but clearly unfair. More often than not it hurts the responsible parent and rewards the irresponsible one. And often it is working that way because crime, even blatant crime, is not just ignored but often rewarded in family court. It doesn't take litigants much time to understand how the system works. And you are kidding yourself if you do not think the children involved, indeed anyone with knowledge of how it works, are not impacted in a very negative way.
I will never cease to be amazed by how easily people sacrifice their dignity for money and power. It is never worth it.
In 2016 Massachusetts was the first state to pass a law barring employees from asking job applicants what their current salary was. The law was designed to reduce inequities in pay. The idea is to prevent underpayment at one job moving with a person to a new job. The law was pushed for mostly by women and women's groups but if helps everyone. And it makes sense. After all what does your current salary have to do with what you are worth to a different company?
Several states have followed Massachusetts's lead and passed similar laws, most recently California.
I am not sure what it is about Massachusetts that makes them more concerned with justice and fairness than other states but it is good for all of us when they lead the way.
